ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Posted in SCOTUS — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

This info is from a law review article by Joshua Glick:

[R]etired justices can ride circuit pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 294(a) which states: "Any retired Chief Justice of the United States or Associate Justice of the Supreme Court may be designated and assigned by the Chief Justice of the United States to perform such judicial duties in any circuit, including those of a circuit justice, as he is willing to undertake." Indeed, several justices have elected to continue their judicial service after retirement by sitting by designation on various Courts of Appeals.

So here's the question: Who was the only retired Supreme Court Justice to sit by designation in all of the circuits? The answer's below the fold.

Glick says it was Justice Tom Clark. Clark was born in 1899, and was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1949 by President Harry S Truman. Justice Clark retired in 1967, in order to avoid a conflict of interest when his son became Attorney General. After his retirement, Clark rode circuit for another ten years, participating in every single one of the courts of appeals that then existed.